


The Hot Topic Incident

by xanemarths



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, Hot Topic, Narrator Chara, Nonbinary Chara and Frisk, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Selectively Mute Frisk, they might not be sharing a body with Frisk anymore but old habits die hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 22:19:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11860767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanemarths/pseuds/xanemarths
Summary: They feel their sins crawling on their back.Or, in which Asriel makes embarrassing shopping decisions, and Chara is forced to face ghosts of their past.





	The Hot Topic Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Recently I remembered how much I love my kids in Undertale. I had several other story ideas before this (mostly oneshots), but then this idea came to me, and.
> 
> I have. Some. Regrets.

The mall is far quieter than it could have been, and, in all honesty, that's for the better. Large crowds made Chara anxious and overstimmed, ready to lash out with only the tiniest provocation. At least, here, in the off-season, there's only the occasional other human who passes by, and most were too busy shopping to stare very long at the kid accompanied by a baby boss monster and the ambassador between humans and monsters, the latter of whom is clinging to their hand like a lifeline.

The three of them were just wandering now, checking out the stores. Their mom had told them to feel free to explore while she shopped, and that they were also free to buy something if it particularly caught their eye. So far, there hadn't been much of anything; a few restaurants, more clothes stores than anyone needed, an Apple store. Still, every time Frisk turned their head to look at a new store, Chara leaned in to tell them their own highly professional opinion.

“Old Navy - a regular clothing store.”

“Gucci - words can't hurt you when your shades are Gucci.”

“The Disney Store! Where all your hopes and dreams come true.”

“Build-a-Bear workshop! You can make your own stuffed animal here! ...You're still not interested.”

“Victoria's Secret - ...Leeeeeet’s let her secret stay a secret.”

“Gap - another regular clothing store.”

“Kay Jewellers - every kill begins with k!” (Frisk frowns, and vehemently signs at them.) “What? It's every kiss begins with k? Oh, well. My version was better.”

“Buca di Bepo - not a good place to eat with your kids.”

“Justice! For Girls. Sounds like a band name.”

“Nordstrom - just like a regular clothing store, but more expensive.”

“Macy's - like Nordstrom, but also Santa is there.”

“Gamestop - have you heard about video games?”

“Godiva - the best store in the entire mall! You spend a long time just standing outside and smelling the chocolate…”

Frisk doesn't spend very long just standing around before their grip tightens on Chara’s hand, and they're dragged inside the chocolate shop, followed by a giggling Asriel. Ten minutes later, the three of them exit with a bag, and there’s a grin plastered on Chara’s face at the thought of their delicious treat - and then they see the store across from them, and the grin falls away to a grimace.

“Hot Topic,” they spit, enunciating every syllable with venom. They give no further information. Frisk gives them a concerned look, and gently tugs on their hand, as though encouraging them to move on. Chara sighs, heavily, but they concede, letting Frisk take them where they will.

And then they realize that there is a very Asriel shaped empty space next to them. “Azzy!?”

They glance around, heartbeat pounding in their chest - only to notice his little white tail waving as he makes a beeline for Hot Topic. The color drains from their cheeks.

“C’mon! We have to SAVE him!” they exclaim, tugging on Frisk’s hand; they nod at the urgency, their brows furrowing with concern. They race after him, calling his name, but it's too late - he enters the store without even turning to acknowledge them, and Chara knows that they have lost their brother once more.

Frisk, however, is slightly more optimistic; certainly bolder. Though they pause at the threshold, they quickly recompose themself; they take a deep breath to fill themself with determination, and step inside. Chara almost thinks about leaving them to search for Asriel alone, but staying alone outside, in this mall, with all these people around…

Besides, Frisk had a vice-like grip on their hand, and someone needed to make sure they weren't corrupted by Hot Topic. They gently squeeze Frisk’s hand when they turn to look at them, smiling shakily, and they follow them inside.

It's just as bad as they had remembered. They hardly even bother glancing around the store; all that black, all those shirts and t-shirts and hoodies for bands, for anime, for popular pop culture tv and movies and… are those funko pops? They are. They feel disgusted.

Frisk peeks around, occasionally glancing at items they feel certain Chara ought to recognize and pointing at them, questioningly - it's true, some of those things, they do recognize, but all of them deserve to be recognized outside of a Hot Topic. They stay silent, and, after a few more attempts, Frisk stops trying to reach for commentary.

It feels like _years_ before they find Asriel; he's standing in front of another t-shirt display, with a very thoughtful-looking finger to his chin - relief crashes over them like a wave, until he turns to them, and asks them a question.

“Hey, Chara! You know my birthday, right? What would my sign be? I'm trying to pick, but…”

They turn, and it is then that they catch sight of black t-shirts with a rainbow array of zodiac signs plastered across the front.

They feel their sins crawling on their back.

“Chara? ...oh, well, I guess maybe this one? Cancer is the sign associated with crybabies, right?”

They regret ever calling him that, even if it had come from a place of genuine caring (the world never seemed to treat anyone who cried kindly); a smile forms on their face, their grip on Frisk’s hand tightens, and they make a quiet noise that could only be comparable to a much quieter version of one of their dad's teakettles. Slowly, they release their grip on Frisk’s hand, and make their way to Asriel. They pat his soft and fluffy cheek, and ease their smile into something that's hopefully less strained.

“Oh, my dearly beloved brother! I never got to tell you how _wrong_ I was to say that! You are not a ‘crybaby’ - you cry just the right amount for someone your age, who has been through as much as you have. It was I who mistook crying for weakness, because. Well. _Because_.”

(There was absolutely _no way_ they were talking about their tragic backstory in a _Hot Topic_.)

“But the point is, I was wrong! You are not a crybaby, nor are you a Cancer. In fact, wearing your sign like that is probably unnecessary, is it not? I don't think there's really a point!”

Asriel goes slightly misty-eyed when they tell him he's not a crybaby, but his grip on the t-shirt, unfortunately, tightens. “But, Chara, it looks cool-”

The strain returns to their smile. “I'm sure we can find you another, cooler t-shirt! With more rainbow on black!”

With great reluctance, Asriel sets the t-shirt back down, and they breathe a sigh of relief. “Hey… Capricorn is the seagoat, right? And I like purple…-”

Chara actually lets out a teakettle scream at that, and with Frisk’s help they pull Asriel away from the display, out of the store. They grab his paw and hold it tightly in their own hand, and they don't let go until Hot Topic is out of sight and he's been pacified with a rainbow-armed black hoodie from another store. _What was that all about?_ Frisk signs at them, brow creasing in worry. Chara sighs.

“I'll tell you when you're older, Frisk,” they say, with all the gravity of an adult. In truth, they hope that Frisk never asks; that the memory of this day fades away forever.

No need to tell everyone they had been a basement Homestuck, right?

...The term was “basement”, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Other notes:  
> -Hot Topic doesn't actually sell troll t-shirts, but the idea was too good to pass up so I. fudged some things.  
> -joke about Chara being a basement homestuck because Toby Fox made Undertale in Hussie's basement.  
> -my favorite reference in this was Chara's "words can't hurt you when your shades are Gucci". I feel like they'd enjoy Yu Yu Hakusho. Anime about a green kid who's abused and hated by his peers, who likes fighting, who dies twice, whose friends are mostly non-humans, who turns out to be a demon? Yeah.


End file.
